Everlasting
by Sherlockdetective99
Summary: Garnet and Pearl are not like each other, not in the slightest. Anyone can attest to that. But friendships bloom wherever and whenever, and no matter how odd or unexpected, this case was certainly no exception…
1. Superstition

_Everlasting_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Steven Universe or any of its characters.**_

_**For anyone confused by the numbers I've used with the Gems, check the author's note the bottom.**_

* * *

"Hey, look over there."

"What?"

"She's here."

"So?"

"She's walking towards us."

"What! Come on then, let's go!"

The two children, both with gems on varied parts of their bodies, hastily scrambled off as a tall and lean girl strode by, not missing a beat as she glanced at them scurrying into the distance. Her dark frizzy hair swung lightly in time to her pace as she watched a path clear itself for her, excited conversations dying away to nervous whispers.

She didn't care, not anymore. Their wariness had become her everyday life now, and she'd long grown accustomed. She was an outcast, that was it. End of story.

The reasons for why she was so feared, she wasn't entirely sure of herself, but she knew the basics. Her abnormal height allowed her to easily tower over others her age. Her "stony" demeanor made her impossible to approach. Her eyes were always covered by her shades, preventing anyone from directly meeting her gaze. Definitely a good thing, considering the one boy that actually saw her third eye had run away screaming. And to top off everything else, unlike all the other children, she had two gems instead of one.

Because one gem meant you were a protector of humans. So somehow, two gems meant the opposite. The other children came up with their stupid reasons, but there was no point in caring.

"Hey, look who's here!"

She suppressed the urge to growl, raising her head and continuing on her way. Emerald was always the most annoying, him and his two cronies. The other children at least never gave her trouble. Emerald, by contrast, seemed to delight in bothering her at every opportunity. While she doubted the boy had the courage to seriously aggravate her, he came dangerously close to crossing the line.

"What's up Three-Eyes? Off to curse someone else?"

_Ignore him._

She brushed past the green-haired boy, giving the most subtle of death glares as she walked by, and told herself to calm down. While she didn't have much doubt that she could easily beat him up if she so wished, she didn't need her already horrendous reputation to grow any worse. Undoubtedly, the adults wouldn't take her side anyway. That did make her question which group, children or grown-ups, were the most stupid.

The grass beneath her feet gave way to fine gravel, and she found herself reaching her destination. Stretched out before her was a high brick wall, intersecting at a right angle with the sparring gym. Gingerly, she crouched into the corner, sitting down lightly as she breathed a sigh of relief.

This was where she found herself spending all her time during training breaks. Training itself wasn't so bad, but once it ended and break time was announced, she once more be reminded of her mountain-high pile of insecurities as all the other children ran off with their friends, leaving her alone and uncertain of whether she even belonged.

Bringing her knees up to her chest, the 30th Garnet sighed and placed her head in her arms.***** At the very least, she supposed, this corner was very peaceful.

* * *

"Pearl?"

A young girl with bright orange hair and a glossy white gem on her forehead mumbled a distracted "Yeah?" as she continued to bury her nose into the thick book spread in her hands. Beside her another girl about her age with blue hair poked at her shoulder to get her attention, and somewhat exasperated, Pearl was inclined to look up and give a proper response.

"Yes?"

"Hey uh, would you mind if I borrowed your notes of Gem History? I swear I'll return them to you at the end of the day."

Pearl raised an eyebrow as she gazed deadpan at her classmate.

"What happened to yours?"

"It was an accident! Emerald pushed me this morning and they fell into the mud! The history test is in a few days, so I don't have time to rewrite them all!"

Pearl gazed hard at the 25th Sapphire for a few more moments before deciding that the girl was probably telling the truth. Emerald did have a talent for being incredibly rude. Reluctantly, she opened her book to the last page and pulled out a thick swathe of neat, organized papers, which she carefully handed over to her grateful friend.

"Oh, thank you so much Pearl! You're the best!"

Pearl gave a non-committed shrug in response, already burying herself back into the thick volume. Knowing that nothing could distract the studious gem when she was immersed in her reading, Sapphire delivered a final thank you over her shoulder before running off, presumably to copy down the notes before break time ended.

Having paid minimal attention to her surroundings, it took Pearl a few seconds before realizing that the excited chatter around her had suddenly gone silent. This was enough for her to lift her head out of curiosity, though she still did so with reluctance.

_What are they all on about now?_

Then she caught sight of a familiar tall figure striding her across the field, posture straight and confident as gem children cleared out of the way left and right.

_Oh, so it's Garnet._

The sudden drop in conversation volume and formation of small, whispering groups made her roll her eyes though. Even her preference for quiet alone time over nonstop chatter hadn't spared her from the gossip circulating among the children, and the top rumours always had something to do with the somewhat unnervingly tall, dark-haired gem stalking her way through her wary classmates.

"What's up Three-Eyes? Off to curse someone else?"

Pearl could not help but release a sniff of disdain, staggered by the immaturity of the jeer. While she had to admit Garnet was rather intimidating at a glance, the superstitions that revolved around her were absolutely ridiculous, at least the ones she'd heard about. By no means was she interested in approaching her unnaturally stoic classmate, but as none of her books had suggested any reasons to fear dual gems with unusually serious demeanors, she saw no reason to be afraid.

"Idiots", she muttered, eying Emerald as he quickly stepped back to avoid being in Garnet's path. No doubt, his bite couldn't match up to his bark.

"Pearl, what are you talking about?"

The young gem had a bit of a start as Sapphire somehow reappeared behind her, eyes wide with confusion and a lingering tint of fear. Taking a breath to compose herself, Pearl tried to look nonchalant as she flipped to the next page in her book.

"I just think it's stupid how everyone wets themselves whenever Garnet passes by."

Sapphire's eyes, if possible, managed to grow even wider, and her voice became squeaky with amazement.

"What are you saying Pearl! You're not afraid of her?"

Pearl was about to respond that no, she in fact was not afraid, but was interrupted by a bark of laughter from behind.

"What's going on here? Does little miss Encyclopedia have something to say about Three-Eyes?"

Closing her eyes and reeling in her irritation, Pearl reminded herself that she had to keep her cool now that she was going to be talking to a complete moron. She turned herself and coldly met Emerald's arrogant sneer with a steely gaze.

"Hello Emerald. She has a name and so do I. Is there anything I can help you with?"

Her green-haired adversary snickered something to the stouter boy behind him, Ruby if her memory served correct.

"You're not afraid of the freak? Is that really true?"

The sarcastic drawl of his last sentence did make her want to punch him, but the temptation was successfully resisted.

"And just why should I be?"

By now, they were beginning to attract the attention of the other children, who were watching with varying expressions of awe or skeptic disbelief. Pearl took note of them, but pushed the onlookers out of her focus. It was the 32nd Emerald she was facing right now, and that took concentration. Lots of concentration.

"Really? You should be careful what you say, or else she just might decide to pick you off next…"

"There's no next if there never was a first."

"Are you sure?"

Emerald now turned to address their spectators, hunching himself and grinning wickedly.

"You've all heard, haven't you? About the strange things that have happened ever since _she_ arrived…"

His voice had dropped to a much lower volume, though it still remained loud enough to be heard by his raptured audience. Behind him, Ruby and Turquoise were jeering at some of the smaller gems, further expanding their leader's menacing presence.

"They say things haven't been very… ordinary as of late. Some very strange happenings have been reported, living shadows, mysterious tremors, a suspicious… aura creeping about. And as a matter of fact, one little gem vanished without a trace just a few years ago, only to be found turned completely to stone…" whispered Emerald, obviously relishing every word as the onlookers began to tremble.

One however remained completely unfazed, to his mild annoyance, and it was the very one he was trying to creep out the most. Contrarily, she rolled her eyes with an air of indifference at the sight of her easily frightened classmates.

"And how does this connect to Garnet in any way?"

Emerald looked at her as if she were stupid, instantly causing her irritation to spike.

"I thought you were supposed to be the smart one. Did you not notice how all of this happened _after_ she came?"

"That doesn't prove anything and it was never confirmed that anyone did go missing. Besides, have you ever even seen Garnet's 'third eye'?"

Emerald's darkened expression told her everything, and she stiffened as she noticed his fists beginning to clench.

"Topaz saw it when she first arrived."

"But no one ever saw it after that."

"Of course! Why do you think she always wears shades?"

"Who said that was the reason she wears them?"

"You're saying Topaz was lying?"

"No, but maybe he was mistaken!"

The conversation was starting to grow heated, and to Pearl's dismay, the onlookers seemed to grow in size as other gems flocked to the scene, curious to see the spectacle that was taking place. Not wanting to be gawked at any longer, she huffed a reluctant sigh as she tried to retreat from the argument.

"Ok whatever, fine. You can think whatever you want. It doesn't matter to me."

She tucked her book under her arm and was prepared to leave, but was stopped by an angry shout.

"Where you think you're going?"

Oh heavens, what had she just gotten herself into?

So it seemed that Emerald wasn't going to just let her back out of it. Terribly immature, but not completely surprising considering that she'd more or less just stomped all over his ego.

"What is it now?"

"If you're going to act like _she_ isn't a freak, then you'd better prove it."

She narrowed her eyes to cold blue slits, hard as ice. It was already clear where this was heading.

"So you want me to talk to her?"

Emerald returned her glare with one of his own, undaunted.

"No, you're going to find out what's underneath her glasses."

This caused Pearl to freeze, not favouring the sudden shift of the conversation, and the hesitation was clear in her expression. She was certain Garnet wasn't some sort of fire-spewing monster, but neither was she the most inviting of characters. And who knew what would get her to willingly take off her shades, considering that she was never seen without them...

"Or, you just admit she's a freak."

The grip on her book tightened and her teeth clenched. Pearl had been content to let Emerald continue deluding himself alongside anyone else who felt the need to be superstitious. If he wanted to be an idiot, then that was his own problem. But to ask of her to do the same?

Her index finger unconsciously traced the edge of the gem embedded in the centre of her forehead.

There was no way the 27th Pearl would let that fly.

"Just watch."

It was so on.

* * *

*** Note: For anyone confused by why I've used numbers in regard to the Gems (E.g. 27th Pearl), its because the show has implied that there once existed hundreds of Gems on earth, and since there are only a few different types of gemstones, I decided it would make the most sense if they all had a number that corresponded to them. Whenever there's only one type of gem present though, anyone who addresses them just drops the number altogether, as I imagine it'd be more of a formal thing. Also, having a higher number doesn't necessarily mean being younger than a different gemstone with a lower number, because different types of gems probably sprung to existence at different times. Therefore Garnet being the 30th can mean she's the same age as Pearl, who's the 27th.  
**

**Steven Universe restored my faith in modern cartoons. So yeah, it's pretty good and I've been obsessed with it recently.**

**So, before anyone asks, no I don't ship Garnet and Pearl. As a matter of fact, I pretty much don't ship at all. While I was surprised by how Pearlnet rose in popularity so quickly, it did in fact inspire me to imagine a friendship dynamic between them. I guess friendshipping, if that term even exists. Still, the more I thought about it, the more I thought it would make such a great relationship. They don't really interact that much on the show, but I noticed there are these little moments where they'll just have this glance at each other that _I_ think indicates a long history together. Still, that's just me. **

**That said, though I'm writing this with friendship in mind, their relationship is open to whatever interpretation you want. It is fanfiction, and it is the internet.  
**

**Since the show hasn't given us much background info, like most writers and artists, I've kinda had to envision elements of the Gem's past. I imagine there's the main Crystal Gem force and then there's some sort of academy that trains the younger Gems for their future as protectors of the universe. Garnet, having a third eye and a serious personality, would probably be ostracized by her peers. Pearl would definitely be some super studious bookworm who found the rumours stupid and wasn't afraid of speaking her mind about it, but didn't really care for actually seeing for herself what Garnet was like until someone challenged her intelligence. **

**All I have for now, sorry for rambly author's note. Expect more in the future though.**

**Sherlockdetective99, signing out.  
**


	2. Hesitance

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Steven Universe or any of its characters.**_

* * *

A small bug skittered across the bumpy gravel. Finding its blue and red complexion somewhat fascinating, Garnet considered trying to pick it up. She backpedalled though when she considered her strength a bit more, the limits of which she hadn't quite mastered yet, and decided that it would be much less fatal for the small creature if she left it alone.

That was another thing the others seemed to be terrified of, wasn't it? Maybe she shouldn't have accidentally punched Emerald across the gym and into a solid stone wall in that sparring match. Even if the brat had asked for every moment of it.

A flicker of defeated frown crossed her face for a few seconds before it became calm once more, yet the sensation remained throbbing inside her. It didn't seem like anything she did could get her accepted. Seeing as nothing she did could win over her peers, her social life seemed certain to be a hopeless cause…

Garnet's thoughts dragged her deeper into a half-conscious state, her mind wandering away as it always did during the agonizing half hour breaks that peppered their training schedule. She was accustomed to remaining spaced out until the sound of the training bell went off, ending their recess and breaking her out of her quiet, if rather unhappy, inner world.

Today however, her focus was broken by the sound of another's footsteps.

Though she was instantly aware, her immediate response was to hunch her shoulders a bit and tuck her knees closer. Her first guess was that some gawker had decided to take a closer look at the local freak and that some slight movement would be enough to scare them off. But to her surprise, the footsteps did not cease and continued to grow closer.

Puzzled, Garnet considered her options. She'd never been confronted with such a situation before. Maybe if she just stayed still for a bit longer and pretended she didn't notice, whoever it was would go away.

It was thus to her great surprise when the footsteps finally stopped at a distance very close by, followed by a soft whoosh of air and the crackling of gravel. Unable to resist, she turned her head to see who it was that had sat down next to her.

Not all too familiar with her fellow gems, Garnet didn't immediately recognize the young girl sitting cross-legged a short distance away. Her hair was orange and spiked to a curious point at the back of her head while her skin was a very pale white, with the faintest tint of blue. In her lap was a very old and tattered book, opened to a weathered, yellow page with bold black inscriptions. The girl was focused intently on the content of the current page, sharp blue eyes flickering through the text, and aside from a slight tension in her shoulders, she seemed to be fairly at ease.

_She looks like... a Pearl gem?_

It seemed a fairly reasonable guess, considering the girl's thin, delicate build and silvery white gemstone situated neatly in the centre of her forehead.

For a few minutes, she watched Pearl out of the corner of her shades, waiting for something to happen. But the girl did nothing except continue reading her worn book, and the silence was only interrupted by the occasional flipping of a page. Feeling incredibly awkward and unable to stay speechless any longer, Garnet spoke.

"What are you doing?"

Pearl's response was given with only a swift lifting of her eyes from the text.

"Reading."

Garnet didn't know if the answer was meant to make her feel insulted, stupid, both, or neither. Instead, she found herself still more baffled than anything else, and when another minute of inactivity passed, she decided to try again.

"Why are you reading here?"

This time, Pearl's eyes didn't even leave the book for a second as she gave her reply.

"Well, this corner is quite peaceful."

Garnet was fairly certain that Pearl was purposely dodging the implication of her questions. But before she could think of something else to say, she was surprised again when her almost unhealthily pale classmate beat her to it.

"Do you want me to leave?"

For the first time, Pearl had raised her eyes completely and was looking directly into her shades. Too used to having her gaze avoided, it caught Garnet completely off guard as she struggled to find ground. The much shorter gem didn't seem to be afraid, though the air of wariness clinging to her presence did not remain undetected. However, Garnet saw no fear in her pale blue eyes, only a flicker of tense curiosity. While far from welcoming, it was certainly a refreshing change.

"…I don't really care."

Apparently satisfied with the open-ended answer, Pearl returned to her book, leaving Garnet to her devices as she began mulling over a complicated diagram.

For the rest of the period, Garnet watched her unexpected companion from her right eye corner, not daring to speak. Oddly enough, the initial awkwardness she'd felt at first had dispelled, and she was almost disappointed when a familiar gong rattled through the air, signalling the return to the training ground.

Pearl neatly snapped her book shut and stood up, barely glancing at Garnet as she casually walked away, as if everything had been normal to her. As if she hadn't been sitting beside what was probably the most ostracized member of the entire Crystal Gem force .

Still mystified, she shook herself and got to her feet, silently following as the last echoes of the bell faded into the courtyard

* * *

It was the fifth day now. For every single one of their daily three recesses, the remarkably studious Pearl had made herself comfortable in the isolated corner that normally contained the resident outcast. And Garnet was now officially confused.

Surely there had to be some motive for Pearl to choose this particular corner to read in. There were after all plenty of other suitable spaces for her to find peace. Garnet hadn't said a thing since the first day, thinking that her unlikely companion would sooner or later stop coming, but up till now, her presence had been consistent.

What did she want?

Pearl was currently looking through the exact same tome she'd had on the first day, although every single other day she'd had a different text to flip through. She appeared to be fascinated by whatever it was she was scrutinizing, and as such, didn't even seem to be aware that there was someone else right next to her, watching her all the while.

Garnet's heightened senses picked up motion from nearby, and she turned her head in time to see two other curious children realize she was looking in their direction and scamper off. Not to her surprise, there had been an increase in onlookers lately.

The suspense though, however one-sided, was really starting to get to her, and Garnet decided she couldn't take it any longer.

"Why are you always here?"

Pearl, whose thought trains were currently running rampant among the context of her heavy tome, wasn't listening in the slightest. Being only dimly aware that someone was addressing her, her only response was an absentminded "Whassat?" as she flipped the page.

"Hello?"

This time, Pearl realized that she was being spoken to and sharply looked upwards with a startled "Yeah?", causing the other gem to draw back slightly. Their gazes met and they stared awkwardly at each other for a few seconds. Pearl managed to find her voice first, and hesitantly broke the silence.

"S-sorry… Were you saying something?" she asked, her expression somewhat sheepish.

Well, there was no going back now. Shifting uncomfortably in her spot, Garnet mumbled a repetition of her earlier question. Pearl looked thoughtful for a short while before shrugging her shoulders and propping her book a bit higher in her lap.

"I did say this corner is peaceful."

"But… that… still…" Garnet felt her words fumbling in her mouth and cursed her current lack of ability to speak a straight sentence. Despite this, Pearl merely raised an eyebrow and patiently waited for her to sort out her thoughts.

"Aren't you afraid?"

There it was, the question she'd been dreading to ask. Almost immediately, Garnet felt the urge to look away, unsure of whether she really wanted the answer. To know what was thought of her in the wisps of circulating rumours was bad enough, but if she had to hear it told to her directly from someone's mouth…

Pearl however seemed to be a fountain of surprises as she displayed the reaction that Garnet had least expected to see. The wiry gem appeared absolutely indifferent as she rolled her eyes, leaning back against the brick wall.

"Oh, you mean all the rumours? You didn't really expect me to believe all that nonsense did you?"

While there was an odd stiffness to Pearl's movements that Garnet's third eye picked up on, the reaction seemed to be for the most part completely genuine. This however she barely noticed anyways, for she was presently staring at her classmate in mute shock as she internally debated whether or not she'd properly heard.

"Are you ok? You can pick your jaw off the floor now." Pearl said, appearing somewhat amused by the shattered façade of the normally expressionless girl. Unconvinced, Garnet recovered herself and decided to press a little harder.

"You're not afraid of me?"

"No."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"One hundred percent?"

"Yes."

"About me having two gems?"

"No."

"My third eye?"

At this point, Pearl's expression shifted from bemused to somewhat mortified as she leaned forward in disbelief.

"You actually have one?"

It took a second for Garnet to realize exactly what she'd said out loud and she immediately backpedalled, not wanting to scare off the one classmate she had that wasn't currently afraid of her. Trying very hard to look like she wasn't lying, she muttered:

"Um… no."

A few tense moments of silence passed by as Pearl continued to look somewhat skeptical, but eventually she shrugged and leaned back against the wall.

"So then, what exactly is under there?"

Garnet said nothing. To her credit, Pearl was perceptive enough to realize she wasn't going to get an answer.

"Uh, sorry, I probably shouldn't have asked that," she mumbled awkwardly. It had definitely been way too soon to ask. Somewhat disappointing, since if she'd just gotten it over with right then, she'd be able to leave the corner for good and forget that she'd ever had to deal with Garnet.

Then again, it hadn't really been that bad. Awkward perhaps, but nowhere near as bad as Pearl thought it would've been…

Not wanting the conversation to end on such an uncomfortable note, Pearl tried to think of another topic and settled for the first one that came to mind.

"Did you study for today's history test?"

There was a lengthy silence, followed by an uncharacteristically nervous:

"We had a history test today?"

This was the breaking point for the ever studious Pearl, and in that instant all her initial misgivings towards Garnet vanished as her eyes grew to twice their size in utter disbelief.

"You forgot?!"

"Um…" Garnet mumbled, not sure of how to respond to Pearl's sudden distress. While she hadn't intended to forget about the test, academics had never really been her strong point, so she'd usually wing the written evaluations when she got them. This naturally left her extremely confused when Pearl started flipping frantically through the pages of her book, looking completely frazzled all the while.

"Then, you remember everything we learned in class right?"

When silence ensued, Pearl nervously lifted her book so that Garnet could see the current page, and it was then that she realized that it had been the entire time their lengthy (and extremely boring) history textbook.

"You remember the events of the Second Gem War in chronological order, correct?"

"Um… no."

"The exploits of the 1st Ruby?"

"No."

"T-The weapon of the 15th Topaz, who unearthed fifty mountains to slay an enormous gem mole?"

"It was… a hammer?"

At this point, Pearl had gone so pale that her already very light skin seemed almost see-through as she all but squeaked "No, it was a morning star* with fifteen points". Giving a nervous glance at the position of the sun, she placed her book down between them and flipped to the first chapter.

"Ok, there's still twenty minutes. There's still time, still some time…" Pearl seemed to be trying to convince herself more than her extremely underprepared companion, who despite not caring half as much, listened as she was told to concentrate very hard and try to remember exactly what she heard.

Garnet never thought she'd ever find herself sitting in her corner, being drilled into the ground by a hundred and one questions on the intricate details of a long and expansive gem history. Yet despite the fact she got almost every single one wrong, despite the long and arduous rants Pearl tended to go off onto for every small fact, and despite the bell ringing when they were nowhere near done covering all the material (at which Pearl looked ready to bust a brain aneurysm), Garnet realized that for the first time since her training began, she felt… content.

The fact was that Pearl spoke to her so… normally. As if she was normal. As if their situation was normal. Like she didn't care in the slightest about how strange the circumstances were and what everyone else would think about it.

Did this mean she had a friend?

* * *

***Note: A "morning star" is like a club with spikes. Google it if my description isn't good enough for you. I would've just said club, but Pearl would be all technical and state exactly what it was.**

**And so there it all begins.**

**Seriously though, considering how much Garnet seems to think with her fists, I can totally imagine her being great at combat but abysmal at academics. Pearl being... well, Pearl, would probably react to this the same way she'd react if someone told her they committed genocide.**

**I intend for this to be a series of snapshots of their history rather than one long seamless day-by-day progression of their relationship. So there will be gaps of several years sometimes between chapters, and the most important events will be highlighted.**

**That said, the most recent episode *spoilers ahead, skip if you haven't watched or are just disinterested in me rambling* certainly gave me some interesting ideas, though I'm not sure if I'll actually use them. In all seriousness, did anyone watch it without going WTF at the moment when Pearl got STABBED? I went into the episode knowing it would happen (since people were talking about it all over tumblr) and it still came out of nowhere. God, Steven that poor kid. He's never met his birth mother and his substitute mom (come on, we all know Pearl is this to him) gets _stabbed to death in front of him. _Oh, and she was probably in excruciating pain too, yet she completely ignores the SWORD IN HER GUT to try and reassure the kid that she'll be fine. **

**If anyone tells me that Steven Universe is a silly and random show for kids, I will punch them. In the face. Maybe not, but I'll be pissed.**

**Other than that though, Pearl sword fighting was probably the most badass thing on the show thus far, except for Opal maybe. Steven taking care of her gemstone like a chicken's egg and tackling her when she finally returned was absolutely adorable. And Amethyst and Garnet had me in stitches, but the inflation artists on DeviantART are going to have a field day with this one. Man, this episode did everything right, didn't it?**

**Ok, *spoilers end here*. Sorry for rant unrelated to fanfic, but I had to vent somewhere. Either way, Garnet and Pearl are friends now, kind of, so woohoo. Thanks for reading, hope next chapter will be up soon.  
**

**That's all for now. SherlockingDetective99, signing out.**


	3. Terror

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Steven Universe or any of its characters.**_

* * *

"Hey Garnet, could you hold this for a sec?"

"Ok."

Another small artifact was added to the already heaping pile currently in her arms. Pearl's interest in the objects bordered on ludicrous, but seeing as she personally saw nothing else to do, Garnet settled for being her single friend's personal souvenir holder as she continued to rummage among the crumbling ruins.

What a long way they had certainly come from their first meeting years ago, in which a hesitant and awkward conversation had somehow blossomed into a near-constant companionship. Garnet herself still wondered how they'd progressed since that peaceful afternoon, but this she took in stride. After all, why Pearl had ever approached her in the first place she didn't know and never asked. That she now had just one classmate willing to talk to her was the matter of significance, and frankly, it was the only thing she cared about either.

Presently, their class had been brought to the ruins of a previous Gem temple for a field trip. According to Pearl, it had stood nearly seven hundred years ago, but was overrun by monsters and forcibly abandoned. Apparently, the purpose of the trip was to educate the younger gems of the defeat they suffered that day in order to prevent a repeat of the incident, but whoever organized the excursion had certainly picked the wrong instructor. The 15th Rose Quartz was initially meant to accompany the class, but due to being abruptly called away by an urgent mission, she was replaced by the 17th Peridot and 19th Obsidian.

Unfortunately, being training instructors, neither were well-versed in gem history and barely knew more than the students themselves. They'd ended up allowing the class to roam on their own throughout the ruins, so long as they returned by sundown.

_How utterly irresponsible! They could've at least studied something before they brought us here!_ Garnet had remembered Pearl saying in complete indignation, to which she'd seriously considered asking why Pearl even cared so much if she seemed to already know everything about the temple anyways. Nevertheless, her friend had been for the most part placated by the rich reserves of small trinkets and objects that lay forgotten in the debris of the broken structures. She now was poking through the wreckage with one hand and grasping a book in the other, eying every stone and brick with utter fascination.

"I can't believe they didn't salvage any more than they did. Some of these could've remained incredibly useful." Pearl said, half to herself and half to her patiently waiting companion. Garnet gave an indifferent grunt, not terribly interested in what was to her a pile of sand and rocks, and prepared for the huffy response that would soon follow.

"You should at least try to be more interested. Some of these are nothing short of ingenious."

As if to prove her point, Pearl lifted another trinket she'd found beneath the debris and held it out for Garnet to see. It appeared to be some sort of ancient device, completely coated in dust, with a cracked screen connected to a worn pull-string trailing from its side.

"It's a primitive hand-held hologram projector," Pearl explained as she wound up the device with a screw she'd picked up from the ground. "Watch this."

Garnet flinched as the ancient piece of technology sputtered to life and sent a bright beam of light her way, temporarily blinded by the flash. By the time she'd blinked the stars out of her three eyes, Pearl was fumbling with the controls again, twisting the knobs until a frail blue image flickered to life above the faintly glowing screen.

"Isn't it incredible how it still works after centuries? By contrast, some of our modern technology will break down at the drop of hat."

Admittedly, Garnet did feel somewhat impressed now that she was looking a mini version of herself hovering in the air, complete with a disgruntled expression and a heaping pile of artifacts in her arms. Still, seven hundred years had not been kind to the now shabby projector, and a few seconds later the hologram wavered before coughing out of existence completely. Pearl sighed in disappointment, but nonetheless added it to the collection.

"Anyway, I think that's all for this room. How about-"

Pearl stopped mid-sentence, her eyes widening as they fixated on something past Garnet's shoulder before she brushed past without a word. Curious as to what had caught her friend's attention, Garnet turned to see her crouched in the corner, staring intently at the wall.

"Garnet! Quick, come over here!"

Struck by the sense of urgency in Pearl's voice, Garnet hurried over and crouched next to her, dumping the pile of artifacts on the ground. Now that she was closer, she realized there were faint engravings in the rough stone wall, though it appeared to be in a language she didn't recognize.

Narrowing her eyes, Pearl reached out and brushed away the dust coating the wall, clearing up the writing somewhat.

"A Gem must have written this. But at what point in time?"

Having no clue herself, Garnet focused on the actual writing itself. Even without the sand clogging it, she still couldn't tell what language it was in. That said, if anyone knew…

"Do you know what it says?" she asked. Pearl by now was already flipping rapidly through the pages of her book, her eyes darting across the text as she bit her lip in concentration.

"This was the old language of the Gems. It hasn't been used for five hundred years, but I have a rough understanding of the message already. I just need to confirm it…"

She at last settled on a glossary at the end of the tome, scanning through it for a few moments before she became even paler than her already almost ghostly complexion.

"What is it?"

"It's what I thought…"

"Which is?"

Swallowing nervously, Pearl squinted at the engravings and began to translate.

"Masses of darkness. Swarming us. Never ending. Will not last. Strike the yellow star…"

Her voice dwindled off in confusion as she realized that was where the message ended. Garnet frowned, also unnerved by the odd conclusion.

"Are you sure that's it?"

Pearl nodded, checking below and beside the engravings the see if there was anything else. They shared an uncertain glance.

"Whoever this was… they were here when the temple was overrun."

"And this was their final message?"

"Probably, since it doesn't seem to be finished. Everything before I can understand… but what does 'Strike the yellow star' mean?"

Garnet shrugged in response. If Pearl didn't know, then probably no one in the class did, Peridot and Obsidian included.

As they were in the midst of mulling over the message though, a soft "click" noise sounded from nearby. Garnet, with her heightened perception, noticed almost instantly. Looking over, she noted that her companion, still intensely examining the ancient carving, had not.

"Something's here."

Garnet stood, summoning her gauntlets as she prepared for a fight. Pearl, less sensitive to the cosmic forces of the universe and her surroundings in general, reacted much slower.

"Are you sure it's not just another gem?"

She received her answer promptly when, from behind the broken-off end of the wall, a spider the size of a dictionary scuttled out and hissed at them. Multiple fangs hung from its mouth and a dim blue gem glowed in the centre of its back. For a moment the two parties merely stared at each other, but the stillness was quickly broken when the pitch-black creature made a hostile whistling noise and sprang towards them.

Pearl stood up sharply and drew her glaive, but it wasn't necessary. Garnet took all of a few seconds to send a solid punch to the spider's abdomen, her fist passing into thin air as her target disintegrated in a puff of smoke.

She withdrew her hand, not prepared to dismiss her gauntlets yet in the case that the creature hadn't been alone. While she remained for the most part calm, she couldn't help but send a questioning glance to her friend in hopes that she would know what had just attacked them. Pearl wasn't taking it quite as well as she was though and was in an extremely nervous state, holding her book to her chest and tightly gripping her glaive as she stared at the spot where the spider had vanished.

"T-That… it couldn't have possibly been… Oh heavens, if that was what I think it is-"

She was cut off by a shrill scream, one that came from somewhere up the stairwell to the second floor. As they both stared dumbfounded in its general direction, it was followed shortly by pounding footsteps as Peridot appeared from seemingly nowhere and charged towards the source of the cry.

"Both of you, to the front of the temple! Now!"

As the muscular, green-skinned gem disappeared into the ruined hallway, Pearl and Garnet exchanged a nervous glance before doing as they'd been ordered. Two minutes later they were safely outside the entrance, weapons still drawn, where they found about half their classmates in a similar state of confusion.

"What's going on?" Pearl asked the nearest gem, which happened to be Turquoise. The normally confrontational boy seemed to temporarily forget his fear for Garnet as he responded with an expression of absolute terror.

"T-There were these weird… spider things that attacked us. T-Topaz…"

Before Pearl could make further inquiries, the side of the temple wall exploded with a burst of stone and dust. Before the smoke cleared, Peridot leaped forth from the fresh hole with Obsidian following suit, holding what appeared to be a badly injured Sapphire and Topaz over his shoulders. Behind him the remaining students followed tightly, the entire group rushing to join the other party by the entrance.

"All of you, start running- Oh no…"

The ruins of the temple had been located in the middle of a deep dry valley, with steep and rocky mountains on all sides. Now though, a light rumble was shuddering through the earth as across the ground, little bulges of dirt emerged and grew until they exploded in a spray of dust, each producing a new hissing gem spider. Turning her head three sixty degrees, Garnet could tell right away that they wouldn't be able to climb the steep sides of the valley faster than the little nightmares, leaving them trapped on all sides.

Peridot seemed to have come to the same conclusion, for he'd begun to sweat quite profusely as he turned his head side to side, completely overwhelmed by the situation. Obsidian looked equally frantic. However, a combination of the younger gems' screams of terror and the quickening approach of the snarling creatures were enough to jolt them back to their senses, and Peridot raised his voice to holler a command.

"All of you! Get to the highest level in the temple and ward them off from there!"

The student gems didn't need a repetition of the instructions as they scrambled into the entrance. As Garnet passed by though, she felt herself stopped by Obsidian as he handed her the unconscious bodies of Topaz and Sapphire.

"Bring these two! Make sure nothing attacks them again!" he ordered her urgently as he raised his hand and drew his weapon from the back of his left hand, an enormous black flail. Peridot was already charging into battle with a bulky lime-green hammer as long as he was tall, smashing into a few spiders that came too close. She looked at him uncertainly as she lifted her classmates, one on each shoulder.

"Sir? What about-"

"Just hurry! We'll hold them off from down here! They'll want to target us because we're the strongest! Now go!"

Garnet didn't waste another second, nodding gravely in acknowledgement as she made her way after her classmates. However, she didn't take more than a few steps before her sixth sense twitched in alarm, prompting her to stop immediately and look around herself, with the sinking knowledge that something was very wrong.

All three eyes widened as she realized that Pearl was a few feet away, completely still as she stared at the hordes of spiders charging for Peridot and Obsidian, her expression unreadable. Struck by a fierce surge of panic, she temporarily forgot about her load as she rushed over to her spellbound friend.

"What are you doing?"

Pearl clenched her teeth, not taking her eyes off the spiders in the slightest as her eyebrows knit themselves tightly together. She gave no response, which Garnet knew meant she was thinking very deeply and didn't want to be interrupted, but the current circumstances were hardly accommodating and neither was her own current state of mind.

"Let's go! What are you waiting for!?"

For a few seconds, Pearl remained motionless, and her panicked friend was getting ready to physically carry her out of danger alongside Sapphire and Topaz, but she snapped suddenly to attention and looked straight to Peridot.

"I think I have it! Garnet, you go first, I'll come soon!"

Very few times in her life had Garnet been shocked to jaw-dropping silence, and this was definitely one of them.

"Are you crazy-"

"There's something I have to tell them! You have to get those two to safety! Go, I'll be fine!"

Garnet found herself watching helplessly as Pearl bolted straight towards Obsidian, unsure of whether she'd ever been more scared in her entire life. Every instinct screamed for her to go and stop her one and only friend from diving headlong into certain death, and only the burden of her unconscious classmates prevented her from doing so. Her better judgement won out over her emotional desire as she made a beeline for the temple, but it didn't make her feel any less terrified for Pearl's wellbeing.

Sprinting through the ancient hallways, Garnet prayed with all her heart that her friend would be okay.

* * *

**Huzzah, sudden time skip!  
**

**So, looks like they're best buds now. Ain't that great? Except they might also be about to die. Let's see how they deal with it, shall we? Also, I can so imagine Pearl making Garnet carry all of her stuff as they explore some magical setting. Just food for thought.**

**I feel like with every episode that comes out, the chances of my headcanon being true grow smaller and smaller. I might have to stick an AU tag on this fic if it continues. Welp. Consequences of writing fanfic before sufficient source material is revealed.**

**Not much to say today, so Happy Easter everyone.**

**That's all for now. Sherlockdetective99, signing out.**


	4. Strategy

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Steven Universe or any of its characters.**_

* * *

Garnet had arrived to a rooftop crammed with her panicking classmates, all of which were too frantic to notice her. She didn't mind in the slightest, opting to silently observe her fellow gems as they guarded the edge of the roof, thwacking at any of the creatures that managed to crawl their way up. Setting down Sapphire and Topaz, she kept herself out of the way as their friends hurried over in terrified concern, instead heading towards the roof border to see what was currently going down between the training instructors and the enormous mass of gem spiders.

The sight wasn't reassuring in the slightest. While both Obsidian and Peridot were extremely fit and at top notch fighting condition, the swarm of black dots seemed endless as even now more of the creatures continued to pop out of the earth. Without backup, they wouldn't even last the hour.

The situation looked nothing short of hopeless, yet Garnet felt more preoccupied with trying to locate a familiar pale girl with a blue shirt among the chaos unfolding on ground level. Peridot and Obsidian at least she was certain could hold their own for a while, but Pearl? The thought of her friend's wiry build and delicate spear against a thousand snarling arachnids was not a comforting one, to say the least.

Thankfully, she could not spot so much a single spot of orange hair amongst the masses of darkness, which meant that Pearl had to be heading up as of the moment. Still, Garnet knew that the temple itself was still crawling with gem spiders based on her own trip through the crumbling hallways.

Would Pearl be able to handle all of them on her own?

The fact that Garnet couldn't give herself a definite answer made her even more nervous. She had half a mind to go back down and see if she could find her, but at the same time, the temple had a good number of winding passageways that were quite easy to get lost in. The chance that they'd miss each other entirely wasn't out of the question, and she wasn't intent on getting herself stuck in the maze of hallways while being endlessly assaulted by relentless giant arachnids.

For a few minutes she milled about at the edge of the roof, socking any gem spider unlucky enough to place itself within reach of her fists. But just as Garnet was feeling ready to risk adventuring back into the temple hallways, a series of light, barely noticeable footsteps sounded from the stairway and a familiar face emerged.

A few excited cries of "Pearl" sounded as most of the Gems turned to see her, glad she was still in one piece, before they focused back on warding off gem spiders. Garnet, likewise, felt faint with relief. Aside from a few minor scratches, Pearl looked completely unharmed, with even her faithful book still held tightly in her non-weapon hand.

Though oddly enough, as the spear-wielding gem made her way towards her, Garnet was obligated to notice that Pearl didn't look in the slightest frightened. On the contrary, her expression seemed rather… annoyed.

Pearl seemed to catch her expression of befuddlement and, with barely a pause, launched straight to the cause of her mysterious frustration.

"We are going to die."

Garnet stared. A very, very tense silence ensued between them as she temporarily blanked out from the chaos all around, wondering what on earth had prompted her friend to make such a definitive statement of doom.

Pearl groaned as Garnet continued to gawk at her, her expression one of defeat as she half-heartedly pierced through a gem spider that had crawled too close to the roof edge.

"Ok, maybe that was too conclusive. We are most likely going to die."

Garnet finally found her voice again.

"Why would you say that?"

At this, some of Pearl's previous anger returned as she glared in the direction of Peridot and Obsidian, still preoccupied in their task of trying to stay alive.

"Because they wouldn't listen to what I was trying to tell them."

This further confused Garnet, but as she recalled that Pearl had risked life and limb to tell the instructors something, it had to have been fairly important.

"And that was?"

Pearl looked at her closely for a few seconds, as if trying to decide whether there was even a point, but eventually raised her hand and pointed to the largest mass of spiders that surrounded the adult gems.

"Do you see the yellow spot on that one spider near the middle?"

Garnet narrowed her eyes.

"No."

"Look closer. Right now it's to the centre left."

Frowning, Garnet tried again, straining her eyesight as she attempted to peer into the thick swarming blanket of darkness. It was a test to all of her three eyes, but this time, a very, very small speck of yellow caught her eye, and she couldn't help but wonder how on earth Pearl had been able to pin it so quickly from such a distance.

"What is that?"

The frustrated girl growled and thwacked away another spider, eyes blazing with fury as she glared into the distance.

"It's simple. These creatures have a hive-mind mentality. One central 'queen' spider controls the rest of them, and that queen is the only one with the yellow spot on its back. That's what that message meant Garnet. That's the 'yellow star' that we're supposed to strike."

The information just about blew Garnet's mind, and she found herself simultaneously excited and mystified by Pearl's sullen tone of voice. If she knew how to defeat them, then why would Peridot and Obsidian…?

"They didn't listen to you?" Garnet asked, utterly bewildered. Pearl made a disgusted sound and crossed her arms.

"I told them, word for word, what to do. Three times. Then Peridot picked me up and threw me back in the temple."

"Are you sure that's how to defeat them? Why would the queen spider put itself so close to danger? Can't it hide somewhere safe?"

Pearl shook her head and her voice dropped slightly, in indication that she was about to provide an enormous dump of exposition.

"Notice how the spiders attacking Peridot and Obsidian are faster and more ferocious than the ones over here?" she said, with a pointed flick at another one of the arachnids drawing too close for comfort. Garnet took a closer look and realized that her friend had a point. The blob of spiders surrounding their instructors certainly seemed extremely vicious in comparison to the ones on the temple walls, which moved a pace casual enough for the students to deflect with relative ease.

"My theory is that the spiders closer to the queen act more ferocious as a defense mechanism. That's why she has to be in close range of those two, or they'll easily be able to ward the spiders off." Pearl explained, the gem on her forehead projecting a few helpful images to assist in her exposition. "Because the star is such a subtle indicator, she can easily camouflage herself among the others."

Pearl's explanation definitely made sense, which was all the more worrying. Garnet didn't find it hard to believe that Peridot and Obsidian would have shrugged off her advice in the midst of such a desperate situation, but their error would be fatal if backup didn't arrive soon. An entirely likely option, as they weren't expected back at headquarters until nightfall and it would be hours before anyone suspected that something had gone amiss.

"How much longer will they last?" Garnet asked, but before Pearl could answer, a scream of terror rose from their nearby classmates. Shocked by the sudden uproar, they turned to see that Peridot had fallen, caught off-guard by a particularly ferocious spider from behind. As he went down, his eyes could be seen stretching wide open in shock as a mass of black swarmed over him. For a few seconds, Garnet believed he was done for, but at the crucial moment between life and death, Obsidian came through. Slamming the creatures left and right, he just barely salvaged Peridot from the snarling mass and pulled him back onto his feet.

For a few more heart-pounding seconds, the entire class watched in horrified anticipation as the lime-skinned instructor staggered, as if ready to fall down again at any second. Then, after a desperate yell from Obsidian, he stood up straight and blinked the blood out of his eyes, promptly resuming his near hopeless resistance against the ever oncoming monsters. A sigh of relief rose from the students, but the tension in the atmosphere had increased twofold. Nervous glances were exchanged and the inevitable question was whispered among them:

How much longer would they last?

Her heartbeat rapid, Garnet turned to Pearl, only to start in shock when she realized that only a textbook now remained on the roof edge with its owner nowhere to be seen. Frantically looking about, she was barely able to catch the last tip of orange hair before it vanished down into the stairwell. Her mind went temporarily blank, but she forcibly pulled herself together, and with little hesitation, she quickly followed suit.

"Pearl!" she called as she leapt down the steps, managing to catch a hold of her wiry friend just as they reached the bottom of the stairwell. "What are you doing!?"

The young gem turned to face her, eyes blazing with a ferocity that Garnet found both surprising and somewhat frightening. She barely managed to keep her grip as her friend tried to jerk her arm away, briefly thankful for her superior strength.

"Let me go Garnet! I have to do this!"

Oh no, there was no way in hell Garnet was letting this happen again. The last time Pearl had decided to run off in the middle of the spider apocalypse, she'd spent ten minutes wallowing herself in utter terror. Whatever the intentions, this was not going to fly.

"Go do what?!" Garnet asked, uncomfortably aware of the rare note of desperation that had entered her own voice.

"I have to go and try telling them again!"

"They didn't listen to you the last time!"

"That's why I have to try it again now!"

"And if it doesn't work?"

Pearl's next line was spoken with such chilling certainty that Garnet knew she'd never forgot the ice in her voice for the next thousands of years of her life, provided that she survived past this day.

"Then I'll have to try killing it myself."

It took a short while for Garnet to process the incredulity of the statement, in which Pearl was once again trying to free her wrist. Thankfully, even in the midst of her shock, her grip managed to remain iron.

"Do you even realize how crazy that sounds?"

"Yes I do! But the other option is that we all die for sure!"

"If you're going to try killing it, why don't you get the rest of the class? They could help!"

Frustrated, Pearl shook her head.

"Haven't you noticed? The spiders have poor eyesight that's made up for by their ability to gage power levels. That's why they're attacking Peridot and Obsidian first and leaving us to the side right now. If we go as a group, the queen will just focus its attention on us all and leave us with no openings."

Pearl paused here take a breath, exhausted by the explanation, before finishing with "Besides, haven't you noticed how terrified they all are? There's no way they'll be able to do anything other than get themselves killed! I can't ask them to do this!"

Then, as if she expected the explanation to suffice for Garnet to allow her to throw herself head first into certain death, Pearl turned around and again tried to move forwards. Like before, she found herself impeded by a firm iron lock on her wrist.

"Ok look, will you let go if I promise not to run off?" Pearl grumbled, thoroughly exasperated by her companion's persistence. Garnet narrowed her eyes, still uncertain, but decided to give the girl the benefit of the doubt and loosened her grip.

"Are you… sure you want to do this?" she asked, despite having a sinking feeling that she already the answer she would get. Unfailingly, Pearl delivered.

"It's the only thing left I can think of."

The fact that she expected those words didn't stop the sense of dread from building in the pit of her stomach, and she gave a weary sigh of defeat, knowing that she had no choice but to relent.

"Fine then..."

Pearl's expression softened, but only temporarily, for it was quickly replaced by her previous cold determination as she turned to leave. But Garnet wasn't finished yet. Before her friend could take so much as a single step, she spoke again, and the girl promptly froze in her tracks.

"I'll go too."

Icy blue eyes were all but piercing straight through her shades, bewildered and disbelieving.

"But Garnet, I can't ask you to-"

"You don't have to. It's my decision."

"But, it's dangerous-"

"Isn't it more dangerous for you to go alone?"

While Pearl's expression remained uncertain, Garnet stood her ground.

"To be frank, when it comes to physical combat, I think I can handle myself better out of the two of us."

There was a pause, and Garnet could all but see the gears spinning at breakneck pace in Pearl's brain, calculating a thousand little details that she couldn't fathom being able to think up herself.

"You... absolutely sure?"

There was no time for hesitation. She crossed her arms and gave a firm nod.

Pearl pressed her lips together and closed her eyes. For a few moments she seemed to remain in deep thought, but then, to Garnet's complete surprise, she looked up with, of all things, a thoughtful grin on her face, eyes twinkling with inspiration, a sort that Garnet knew was unique to her and her alone. And it was that sly twinkle, of which she'd seen many times before, that told her that the girl already knew exactly what they were going to do.

"This is your last chance to back out."

For some reason, the sudden confidence in Pearl's voice made her want to smile. After all, in light of their current situation, she might as well put complete trust into her one good friend.

"What's your plan?"

* * *

**So, while I doubt anyone's following this too closely, if you're wondering why this chapter took so long, I've been pretty busy for the past few weeks. Real life stuff fanfiction unfortunately. **

**I based Pearl's precision (i.e. her being able to pinpoint a tiny detail from a great distance away) on one of Rebecca Sugar's comments on her being incredibly precise. Since being precise requires you to be able to notice small details, that's how I decided to interpret it. No one did any fusions either because I imagine that the grown ups are too busy fighting and the students haven't really figured out how to do it yet. Other than that though, I don't really have much to say about this chapter.**

**Hope I can get the next chapter up soon, but not making any promises. Also, can't wait to see the Sugilite fusion. Really wish show schedules for Steven Universe would be more consistent.**


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